UCinn/Syracuse

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The Bearcats are rolling right now. After taking care of business against Rutgers and DePaul to rebuild their confidence they picked up a huge win against the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday night. With Sean Kilpatrick leading the charge with 36 points he too might be emerging from his funk. And it couldn?t come at a better time as UC now heads to New York to face the always dangerous Orange in a Big Monday matchup.

Syracuse has been darn near perfect this year with the one scuff on the schedule being a close road loss to the Temple Owls. But other than that the Orange have been rolling yet again under Jim Boeheim. After knocking off the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday they have taken over the top spot in the Big East with an undefeated conference record.

This is Cincinnati?s most difficult opponent to date and could be for the rest of the season. Plus, with Cashmere Wright unlikely to play today either, it makes this even more of a challenge.

Key Numbers

The beat goes on for the Syracuse Orange. They?re one of the best teams in the country behind a dangerous offense and a 2-3 zone defense that is damn near impossible to crack. SU leads the Big East in scoring offense (78.5 ppg), scoring defense (58.4 ppg), offensive rebounds (16.2 orpg) and is one of the best teams in the conference in shooting percentage (45.7%), defensive rebounds (26.6 drpg), assists (16.2 apg), and steals (10.4 spg). Overall this is just a very strong team in all facets of the game.

Players To Watch

Three Starters Triche (#20), Carter-Williams (#1), Fair (#5) and James Southerland (#43): To be honest it?s difficult for me to hone in on one or two Syracuse players to keep an eye on because quite frankly Jim Boeheim?s arsenal is stocked with weapons. As usual. All four of these players average over 12 points per game led by Brandon Triche with 14.6. Michael Carter-Williams is the point man leading the team with 9.3 assists per game and 3.2 steals per game. If that?s not enough C.J. Fair parks himself under the basket and picks up a team leading 7.1 rebounds per game to go along with his 13.4 points.

In addition, in keeping with Syracuse?s tradition of possessing a dangerous sixth man, **James Southerland averages over 13.5 points and 5 rebounds per game yet never steps on the court to start the game. Look for Boeheim to use him to create a wrinkle on offense and pump life into his team if they start going stagnant with the ball in their hands.

**(update-he is out for today)
-bearcatnation

 

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Syracuse Orange to face Cincinnati on Monday


It didn?t take long after Saturday?s 70-68 upset at No. 1 Louisville for Jim Boeheim to look toward the next test for his Orange.

?Now we can forget about it and try to get ready for Cincinnati,? the Syracuse University said in his post-game news conference after Orange?s comeback in Kentucky.

That?s just the way it is in the Big East. Steal a big win, but be ready to grind out another one soon. That happens 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Carrier Dome when the Cincinnati Bearcats (16-3, 4-2) visit hoping to burst Syracuse?s bubble under the big Teflon roof. The sixth-ranked Orange (17-1, 5-0) are the only remaining unbeaten team in league play after they topped Louisville and Cincinnati beat visiting No. 25 Marquette, 71-69, on Saturday.

?There were some opportunities when we could have gotten discouraged. ? We?re proud of this team,? Boeheim said of the program?s fourth-ever win over at No. 1-ranked team in 11 matchups.

It hadn?t happened for SU (17-1, 5-0), which should move up a few spots in Monday?s new polls, since 2006 when a Gerry McNamara-led squad won 86-84 in overtime at Connecticut.

The last time a No. 1 team lost on its home floor in college basketball was 2009. The last 22 times it happened on the road or neutral site.

Coach Mick Cronin?s Cincinnati team has won three straight since a two-game slide dropped the Bearcats out of the Top 25.

They had suffered home losses to No. 20 Notre Dame and St. John?s. Guard-oriented, they?re led by junior swingman Sean Kilpatrick, who averages 18.3 points, and seniors Cashmere Wright (15.1) and JaQuon Parker (10.9), guards who both shoot better than 40 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Orange are expected to play a third straight game without senior forward and second-leading scorer James Southerland. He has been declared ineligible by the university while the NCAA sorts out what the Syracuse Post-Standard reported is an academic issue related to a term paper.

The quick turnaround will test both teams? ability to refocus.

?We are used to it,? Cronin said. ?In the Big East Tournament, you play bang, bang, bang. Our guys would rather play than practice anyway.

?It's always a challenge. As long as Jim Boehiem is standing over there, he is always going to have good players that play their system perfectly. It is never going to be easy.?

 

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WRIGHT STILL DAY-TO-DAY: Point guard Cashmere Wright missed Saturday?s game against Marquette with a sprained right knee after he hurt it early in the second half of Cincinnati?s 75-70 win over DePaul last week. Wright is the team?s second leading scorer at 15.1 ppg and leads the team in assists at 3.7 apg. It?s not clear whether he?ll return in time for the Bearcats? matchup against Syracuse, but for one night, Sean Kilpatrick more than made up for his absence.

 

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Observations from an assistant coach familiar with Cincinnati:

?It might come down to which team can muster enough offense. Syracuse and Cincinnati are two of the best defensive teams in the league. They do it differently, but it?s hard to get good looks against them.??
?Cincinnati beat Marquette without Cashmere Wright, but it?ll be hard to beat Syracuse without him. He?s their primary ball-handler. You can?t afford turnovers against Syracuse.??
?Both teams do a great job on the boards. Cincinnati is really good. They really go after offensive rebounds. Syracuse has to rebound well out of the zone.??



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In the two games that SU senior James Southerland has missed since being declared ineligible, Syracuse freshman Jerami Grant has taken advantage of his opportunity. Grant had scored in double-digits just once in SU?s first 16 games, but he?s averaged 11.5 points the last two games.

Grant had 10 points and five rebounds in 35 minutes in the Orange?s win over No. 1-ranked Louisville on Saturday. A week earlier, the 6-foot-8 freshman scored a season-high 13 points and grabbed five rebounds in a win over Villanova.